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P3029b-3031A Mr Trevor Sprigg; Mr Alan Carpenter; Dr Steve Thomas; Speaker; Mr Matt Birney

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P3029b-3031A Mr Trevor Sprigg; Mr Alan Carpenter; Dr Steve Thomas; Speaker; Mr Matt Birney Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 13 June 2007] p3029b-3031a Mr Trevor Sprigg; Mr Alan Carpenter; Dr Steve Thomas; Speaker; Mr Matt Birney MILITANT UNIONISM - KEVIN RUDD’S LEAD 281. Mr T.R. SPRIGG to the Premier: (1) Why has the Premier not followed Kevin Rudd’s lead in committing to stamping out militant, extreme or unlawful unionism; or like the Premier was with Shelley Archer, is he powerless to act? Mr A.J. Carpenter: What was that? Mr T.R. SPRIGG: Does the Premier want me to start again? Mr A.J. Carpenter: No; I’ve got it. Mr T.R. SPRIGG: I will continue - (2) What rock solid assurances will the Premier give the people of Western Australia that in the event that Kevin Rudd wins the federal election, there will not be an explosion of union payback or GST - no “getting square” time? (3) If Joe McDonald is found in the Supreme Court to have acted inappropriately, will the Premier move immediately to have him struck from the Australian Labor Party and immediately return all Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union donations? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. (1)-(3) I do not know how the member sits around and dreams up these things. Did he do it at lunchtime because he had nothing better to ask? Mr T.R. Sprigg: Are you going to answer it? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Is it because there are no questions to ask? Mr T.R. Sprigg: You said you wanted flexibility. Come on; tell us! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: He has no question to ask so he has a look in the paper and thinks, “I will ask a question about Joe McDonald and the CFMEU. What else can we say? Let’s think about some bribe or assurance.” Mr T.R. Sprigg: Try answering the question, Premier. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Let me put it this way: we have been in government now for six and a half years. Mr T.R. Sprigg: And your strings are being pulled every day. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: When we took over in government, the economy was $73 billion and shrinking. A government member interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: $79 billion, was it? That was the legacy that the coalition government left. After six and a half years of a Labor government in Western Australia - Mr P.D. Omodei: That has absolutely nothing to do with you. You know why it’s happening. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I find it very interesting that that sort of commentary - “it has nothing to do with you” - comes from members of the opposition, because the view they had in government was that they did not have to do anything except sit on their behinds and do nothing. They sat on their behinds and did nothing. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Nedlands was not there. I know that she would not do that. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Members of the opposition in the previous coalition government sat on their behinds and did nothing. They did absolutely nothing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: We will be moving on to debate a matter of public interest about education, will we not? The greatest investment that any society can make in its future is in education and training. Mr T.R. Sprigg interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: What was that? [1] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 13 June 2007] p3029b-3031a Mr Trevor Sprigg; Mr Alan Carpenter; Dr Steve Thomas; Speaker; Mr Matt Birney Mr T.R. Sprigg: You stuffed up education. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Did somebody say something? Mr T.R. Sprigg: You stuffed up education. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Stuffed up education? Mr T.R. Sprigg: That’s why you nicked off. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: This was the legacy in education that we inherited: first of all, the budget was completely out of control. No-one knew how much was being spent, why or on what. Class sizes were too high. Detention rates were declining - Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: This must have been one of the few places in the modern world where school retention rates - did I say detention rates? - were declining, particularly among boys. They were as low as or lower than 50 per cent in many major government schools. More than 50 per cent of boys were leaving school after year 10 and venturing off into the wide world. When we asked questions about what was happening and why, the response was that it did not matter because they were going out and getting jobs. We had declining retention rates, youth unemployment of 30 per cent and no growth in apprenticeships and traineeships. After six and a half years we are now in a situation where we expect to have a $138 billion economy this year. Point of Order Dr S.C. THOMAS: Standing order 78 says that answers need to be relevant to the question. At this point the question relates to unionism and I have not heard the Premier say anything in relation to unionism. The SPEAKER: That is your opinion. The Premier is answering the question as it relates to his portfolio. It is debatable whether a question on unionism falls into the Premier’s province other than being the head of a Labor party, but the Premier is within his rights to answer the question as he thinks fit. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr A.J. CARPENTER: We have a $138 billion economy, record business investment, record yearly economic growth and school retention rates have gone upwards. Ninety-seven per cent of all 16-year-olds are now actively engaged in education, training or employment. It is the biggest turnaround in world history. The number of apprenticeships has gone from 18 000 to about 38 000. That is an increase of about 100 per cent in the number of apprenticeships and traineeships, thanks in large part to the cooperation of the union movement as well as government policy settings. That is where we differentiate in our approach to government. Government policy settings affect the economy. We can have a positive effect on the economy by the right policy settings. The opposition did not have any policy settings on education and training. We have engaged constructively with unions and with big business and small business. We have engaged constructively with education and training sectors, government and non-government, to generate a miracle economy in Western Australia. The very people members of the opposition talked about have been operating in that economy for years. Our economy is bursting. People are operating in an economy that is booming. I look forward to the final piece of the jigsaw being put into place; that is, the replacement of the current federal government with a Rudd-led Labor government. The current Liberal government is looting Western Australia to the tune of $5 billion per year. Net tax transfer out of Western Australia is $5 billion per year. John Howard’s government is looting Western Australia for political purposes in other parts of the country. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order and the member for Vasse to order for the third and final time. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Imagine what benefit could accrue if we had a constructive partnership and engagement from a federal government that was interested in our education and training outcomes, that was interested in our infrastructure requirements and that was interested in keeping up with the state that is driving the Australian economic story - Western Australia. Productivity comes from education and training. Productivity comes from investing in infrastructure. The federal government is doing none of that. Productivity also comes from engagement with the workforce on a constructive basis. We have done that in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Roe to order for the third and final time. Point of Order [2] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 13 June 2007] p3029b-3031a Mr Trevor Sprigg; Mr Alan Carpenter; Dr Steve Thomas; Speaker; Mr Matt Birney Mr M.J. BIRNEY: The question put to the Premier was clearly about whether the Premier is going to kick Joe McDonald out of the Labor Party. All we have heard from him is some diatribe about the federal government and the education system. Mr Speaker, I put it to you that the Premier will be setting a new precedent in this house if he is allowed to answer a question on Joe McDonald with words about the education system and the federal government. The SPEAKER: That is the opinion of the member for Kalgoorlie in relation to the answer. He happens to be incorrect. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Member for Kalgoorlie, I was seeking to point out that with proper government policy settings and good engagement with business, small business, the unions and so on, we can achieve a productive economy without pursuing people and confronting them in a head-on collision at every opportunity for ideological reasons. John Howard has had to concede, after many years of denial, that his industrial relations policy went too far. He has gone on for too long. I am absolutely certain that the new Rudd federal government will involve itself in more constructive engagement with the entire Western Australian economy, including our workforce and the state government, and that will be advantageous to all parties.
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